While the government’s affirmative action and black economic empowerment (BEE) policies help a few people in South Africa, they do so at the expense of the desperate many, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
However, if such policies are implemented without sacrificing merit, it is theoretically possible to achieve a ”win-win” situation for all, he said in his weekly newsletter, published on his party’s SA Today website on Friday.
”Indeed, the DA intends to pursue affirmative action and BEE policies in the municipalities we govern — and we are going to do so fairly and effectively.”
Leon warned if South Africa resorted to crude racial quotas and arguments about which disadvantaged group suffered more in the past, and deserved compensation in the present, then BEE and affirmative action would turn into ”nothing more than a racial bargain basement”.
He said ”overzealous” implementation affirmative action in government and parastatals was partly responsible for a crisis of delivery, as skilled people — both black and white — left and were replaced by unqualified political cronies.
”Effectively, affirmative action and BEE force the poor to subsidise the newly-rich, because the majority must endure worse services and fewer opportunities for the sake of a few individuals at the top,” Leon said. – Sapa